Sawtooth started after DJ Potter went on a camping trip to the Sawtooth Mountains. During a rain storm, all of his gear got soaked and muddy because he didn’t have a cover on his truck bed. When he returned home, he searched for a solution, couldn’t find one, and eventually arrived at a novel idea: a new type of tonneau, or truck bed cover, that stretches to fit the size and shape of your cargo.
Fast forward to 2019-20, Potter entered the Master of Business Creation (MBC) program at the David Eccles School of Business with patents pending on this and another product for cars.
“With Sawtooth, you can load more, haul more, and do more,” he said.
Potter is now on his way to growing a $30 million company within five years.
“While in the MBC program, I have gained additional tools and skills that have allowed me to look at business and, more specifically, my startup with a critical eye,” he said.
Sawtooth has two products. The first product is the tonneau cover. Theirs is unique in that it is the only one that will stretch and expand over cargo taller than the bed walls. The second product is the world’s most aerodynamic, most compact, and lightest car-top cargo carrier.
“I created Sawtooth because it was a need I had, and there was no clean solution, before mine, in the market,” Potter said. “Nothing on the market existed that would neatly and cleanly expand over tall cargo, protect and secure it. Recognizing an obvious gap in the market, I designed and built the product I needed.”
More articles like this in ‘Student Innovation @ the U!’
Find this article and a lot more in the 2021 “Student Innovation @ the U” report. The publication is presented by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute to celebrate student innovators, change-makers, and entrepreneurs.
